Mini-Transfer
Well I really have a lotttt that I would love to talk about to day. I had 18 emails in my inbox, which took me about 30 minutes (we only have 60 minutes of computer time to write emails home and to the mission president) just to read!!! I am so pleased to hear how wonderful things are going back home and for everyones continual support and love! I am so pinched for time that I don't think I can get any individual responses this week....this week has been miracle followed by miracle....and I'd like to share as much as I can!
So I spoke about the Sammy and Faye recently....the couple who drove past us and told us to come to his house. We gave him a blessing to be able to quit smoking Monday night. He has smoked all his life, and his wife Faye has been a heavy coffee drinker all her life. His health suffers immensely from it. He sleeps all day and is tired the rest of the time he is awake. It's been 7 days, and neither of them have had one smoke or drink of coffee. We had an amazing discussion on the Plan of Salvation. I think that really helped them to figure out why everything is "worth it" in this life. We met with them every night this week, we really did not want to lose them! They have been an amazing example of how quickly and how swiftly the converting spirit of the Lord really works! We were over at their house Friday night, where their son and daughter in law, Chad and Stacy were visiting. Their 8 year old son was there too. We visited with them, and I felt that I should ask them if they had ever been to a Mormon church. Chad hadn't been to church in 30 years since he was baptized, and his wife was raised a solid southern baptist. They kind of scoffed at my question too. I figured it was worth a shot and brushed it off. They left a few minutes later, and then about 2 minutes after they left, Sammy's (chad's dad) phone rang. Chad asked if they were still planning on going to church! He said he and his family wanted to join them! Now explain to me what convinced him to do that? Truly the Spirit of God worked inside of that man and his wife. Regardless, they did show up to church on sunday! All 5 of them. They were incredibly well recieved by the ward. The Prattville ward is one of the biggest wards in the mission (about 300 active members) and is very, very strong. They sat in the very front row, which is where an area 70, Elder Clark, had instructed that missionaries sit when they bring investigators to church. I thought it was kind of awkward and first, but that really was inspired advice! They met the entire bishopric, the ward mission, and several other families in the church. Here's the icing on the cake....Sammy paid his tithing! The first day he comes back to church after 30 years!!! These people know where they are, and more importantly, where they want to go. After church, Stacey asked us about General conference coming up and how she could watch it. They said they were both very excited to come back to church next week. I couldn't believe this family. I seriously felt like I have done nothing....and honestly, I really haven't! These people have been touched by the power of God himself! So that's one miracle (or several) this week....
Tuesday morning I had a dream about a family in our ward who we had visited last week. I didn't think anything of it, but I couldn't stop thinking about them all throughout the morning, so I just called them and told them we would stop by later that afternoon. Only the next day did I figure out why I needed to call them. So when we went to their neighborhood (the members name was Erin) we came across two little kids probably 13 years old. They thought they were hot shots so they challenged us to 2 on 2. We creamed em 7-1. I felt bad, but they were kind of punks. The one kid wanted a rematch to 21. My companion settled on playing 1 on 1 with this kid named Chris to 3 points. My companion almost lost too....thank goodness he pulled himself together. We finally told them about our church and then went on their way. This kid chris though, wasn't done with us. He started to follow us and try and "disrupt" our work by talking over us and just kind of being a little piece of poo. So I figured rather than get frustrated I would take the high road and keep talking to him about the Book of Mormon. He kind of got annoyed by that, but it wasn't enough, so I told him that he could come help us knock doors with him. You should've seen his face! We went up to a door and with my encouragement "Come on Chris, we need you to tell this people about the Book of Mormon!" he eventually gave up and started to leave....I asked him "Chris, where are you going man! We need you! Don't leave!" Reverse psychology at it's finest. Anyway because we took that time to talk with Chris, we ended up being on that street just long enough to run into a member in our ward, Kerry. We scheduled a return appt with her for the next day. We went to her house then, and she told us that she needed 30 minutes, but then we could come back. We didn't really know what to do for that kind of awkward amount of time, so we went and knocked the doors right next door. The 3rd door we knocked was a guy named Sayed. He invited us, and with 5 minutes of discussion, accepted a baptism invite! He was ready to hear us, and because of that prompting I received, we found him! Sooooo cool how God works!
I am so frustrated that I am almost out of time! I haven't even scratched the surface here! The work is progressing sooo well here! We found 11 new investigators and passed out close to 20 book of Mormon's this week! We are so excited, and it is a testimony for me that Work really does pay off!
I am so, so, so much more appreciative of the Gospel of Jesus Christ because of the last 2 weeks I've been here. You realize what a blessing it is to know that the things you are telling people are TRUE! That's what it boils down to! You want them to accept it so badly! I know that this gospel blesses lives, and that is possible because of Jesus Christ! My words cannot describe my emotions! Do something today to come closer to Jesus Christ! Remember how lucky you are to have the restored gospel in your life! I love you all and can't wait to write again with more of the amazing work that is happening out here!
Until next time,
Elder McKinley
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